SMM is a fairly complex promotional practice. In this age, the success of a social media campaign may determine the effect of an overall promotion strategy, so it is worth taking a detailed, step-by-step approach. Consider the basic principles of SMM.

Creating a Strategy

A strategy for promotion on social networks should be developed first. A well-developed promotional strategy and competent execution bring very good results. The marketing tool for ecommerce digital marketing can be used. But first, the business sector in which the company operates should be analyzed as to whether it makes sense to promote using SMM at all.

This is done by analyzing the company’s field of activity, its competitors’ strategies, and their results. If it is decided that SMM will be quite effective, then you can begin to develop a strategy. If not, you might not want to waste your time and money on organizing an SMM promotion.

– Goals and objectives
A community on a social network, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat, should have specific objectives. If the purpose of a personal page is to communicate, for a branded page, communication is a tool. With it, you can already:

– increase conversions to the site;
– expand the customer base;
– get an increase in sales, and so on.

– Defining the target audience
Identify the interests and needs of your target audience. After that, analyze which social networks its representatives mainly communicate. Also, at what times this target audience is most active.

Next, you need to think about what content will be most appealing to this audience. The most relevant themes should be identified to form the brand image, methods of attention retention, and so on. After that, a content plan is created. A content plan for a publication should take into account the following parameters:

– content;
– publication format;
– frequency of publication;
– specified topics.

Content Requirements

First of all, the main content requirements are the regularity of publication. For an effective campaign, it is necessary to post relevant texts at least two times a day. They need to be meaningful, relevant, and credible messages which motivate the right action.

Obviously, content should not be limited to advertisements. Even if showcasing them is the main objective. The following criteria should be considered when publishing any content:

– language that is understandable to the target audience;
– clearly structured information;
– friendly, unobtrusive tone of communication;
– consistency of publication;
– diversity of content;
– high-quality video and audio content.

– Visual reinforcement
Regarding textual information, it should be noted that text without a visual component is of little interest to users. Users react to texts that are accompanied by pictures and videos. First of all, you should promote commercial publications with UTM tags for Google Analytics, so that you can evaluate the effect of promotion. However, all other content should be promoted at the same time as commercial content so that the user will be regularly and constantly provided with an interesting and exciting amount of information, and the advertising will not look too straightforward.

Social Media Optimization (SMO) is a set of actions that aim to attract social media users to the site and retain them by technical means. It can be, for example:
facilitating the distribution of advertising and educational materials,
the ability to publish comments on websites via social networks.

The Basics of Communication

Social networks were not originally designed for advertising or promotion, but to communicate. Although social networks can now handle purely marketing tasks, communication with users is at the heart of SMM. In order for communication to be productive, you need to maintain an active, friendly contact with them, answer questions on time, and respond patiently to complaints.

To establish feedback, surveys about the brand, product, or service should be conducted regularly with the possibility to comment. The purpose of surveys is to engage users in an active dialogue. Active customers should be regularly rewarded for certain actions. The same purpose is served by:
contests;

– raffle prizes;
– posting of testimonials;
– storytelling on a theme.

Reputation Management

Feedback is part of the great work of reputation management. The essence of reputation management in SMM is to bring the advertiser’s own brand image as close as possible to that of potential customers. In social media, reputational behavior should be based on the following rules:

– openness to feedback;
– appropriateness of criticism;
– correcting mistakes.

The most important activity is to deal with negativity. A good reputation implies careful work with each dissatisfied client. The main goal of such work is to channel the negative to the benefit of the brand, to make the critic a supporter. So, eliminating the reasons for the criticism is only good for business.